It Turns Out Being a Mage Isn’t Like Having Cabbage Everywhere 2

"What's a cabbage?" Niu Niu asked, puzzled.

"A cabbage is a type of vegetable that humans eat, especially throughout the winter," Ryan explained.

Niu Niu was fuming. "When did magicians become so common?" she asked, then demanded, "Why do you think that?"

"Well, I thought magic books were something you could just pick up easily. I thought being a magician was a pretty common profession, like in games...?" Ryan responded. He had assumed that the world worked like a game, where becoming a magician was just a choice, not something based on talent.

"I'll tell you this," Niu Niu said, raising her voice. "There are fewer than 1,500 magicians across the entire continent. Of those, about 60% are low-level magicians, levels 1 to 4. About 30% are mid-level magicians, levels 5 to 7, and the remaining 10% are high-level magicians, levels 8 to 9. And the entire human population on the continent exceeds 5 billion. Got it?" she explained. Niu Niu had learned this information from books, and she could understand the local language thanks to the soul contract with Ryan. If Ryan knew, he'd probably joke, "We've forgotten the well-digger! People these days aren't what they used to be!"

"Wow! What about level 10?" Ryan asked, intrigued.

"Level 10? That's a legendary magician. They don't participate in worldly affairs. And those old geezers? They don't care about this stuff," Niu Niu replied, clearly frustrated with Ryan's endless questions.

Ryan continued reading, now understanding that the world he was in was called the Dual Star Continent. The name came from two massive stars that were visible both day and night. These stars were so huge that every time Ryan looked at them, he was struck with awe. He could clearly see lakes, forests, mountains, oceans, snow-capped peaks, and deserts on their surfaces. Having seen satellite maps of Earth, Ryan could distinguish plains, rivers, and massive cloud formations. Often, he felt like he wasn't in a different world but on a spaceship instead. He also realized that these two stars, along with the planet he was on, all orbited the same sun. He couldn't say for sure how far they were, but he suspected they shared the same orbit, since there hadn't been a single eclipse in the months he had been here.

The central region of the continent was home to human settlements. The western forests were inhabited by magical beasts, elves, and dwarves. To the east was a vast plateau occupied by barbarians and orcs. To the north lay an ancient, frozen tundra, while to the south stretched a massive ocean. Few humans lived by the ocean due to the six-month-long period of giant waves, some reaching over thirty meters in height.

"Huh, with the stars so close, no wonder there are huge waves," Ryan thought to himself, remembering the tidal surges on Earth caused by the moon.

Harbors only existed along inland rivers, as the seas were teeming with magical beasts and intelligent species.

Currently, there were three major human empires: the Empire of Light, the Empire of Darkness, and the Alliance Empire, which was the most powerful of all. The Alliance Empire embraced religious freedom and was home to countless temples and sects. The empire also housed the headquarters for the Mercenary Guild, Warrior Guild, Magician Guild, Thieves Guild, Merchant Guild, and many other organizations. The Alliance Empire was governed by a parliamentary system, with the Elder Council managing the empire. The Elder Council had 15 members, and its power intersected with that of the Upper House, ensuring checks and balances. This system had existed for over 10,000 years.

The Empire of Darkness worshipped the God of the Underworld, while the Empire of Light followed the God of Light. The territories of these three empires were shaped like irregular ellipses. The Alliance Empire controlled about 45% of the continent, while the remaining land was divided between the Empire of Light and the Empire of Darkness.

Ryan was located in the Alliance Empire, near the ancient frozen tundra to the north. To the east, it bordered the massive magical beast forest and the Orc Empire, though a huge gorge separated the Alliance Empire from the Orc Empire, formed by melted snow from glaciers. This river was the famous Rum River, which originated in the northern ice fields and flowed through the border between the Alliance Empire and the Orc Empire, before passing through the Empire of Light and eventually emptying into the sea. There was a fortress on the plains near the Empire of Light to prevent both the Orc Empire and the Empire of Light from advancing. Ryan's city, Harry City, was one of the 12 duchies of the Alliance Empire, located in the Loya Province, the closest human city to the frozen tundra.

The book mostly focused on the Alliance Empire, with only a few words about the other two empires.

The book also detailed the classification of occupations, including magicians, warriors, archers, thieves, assassins, bards, blacksmiths, and more. Among them, magicians and warriors were divided into 10 levels. A level 1 magician's badge featured a staff with a hexagram, level 2 had two hexagrams, and so on. At level 8, the staff turned silver-white with no hexagrams, while level 9 had a golden staff. Level 10 wasn't mentioned. Warriors, on the other hand, had greatswords instead of staffs, and other occupations had different symbols, such as a key for thieves, a dagger for assassins, a hammer for blacksmiths, and a bow for archers.

The Mercenary Guild had a rating system marked with letters like A, B, C, D, and E.

As Ryan was reading, he suddenly heard a noise outside. He rushed to the cave entrance.

"Damn it! You think you can just touch a magician's stuff?" Ryan shouted as he saw movement in the stables. He guessed that a fierce beast had entered the stables, as there were tracks in the snow. Cursing loudly, he grabbed his snowboard and rushed toward the disturbance.